1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for removing a rubber tire from a spoke type wheel, a dish type wheel or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Due to recent remarkable improvement in quality, life (duration) of tires, such as used in automotive vehicles or the like, has been significantly expanded. Many of the tires equipped on second-hand cars to be scrapped are still useful as second-hand tires.
On the other hand, for such second-hand tires, there is a high demand in certain countries, such as,. Southwest Asian countries, experiencing a shortage of the same. A large number of the second-hand tires are exported from Japan.
Upon shipping for exportation, it is typical to remove the tires from wheels and to ship bare tires since metal wheels, on which the tires are fitted, may cause substantial increase of weight and thus cause substantial increase of transportation cost.
Conventionally, the tire has been removed from the wheel by means of a tire lever or by way of so-called "bead drop".
In case of removal of the tire from the wheel by means of the tire lever, as shown in FIG. 8, a wheel b with a tire a is placed on a working table c. Then, the tip end of a lever d is inserted between the rim e of the wheel and the bead portion f of the tire. At this condition, the bead portion f is released from the edge of the rim e utilizing a lever action while rotating the wheel b.
On the other hand, in case of the bead drop (not shown), in a drop center type wheel having no rings, such as that for passenger vehicle, after discharging the air in the tire, the bead portion f of the tire a is stepped on a human foot or hit by a hammer (not shown) to loosen engagement with the rim e. Subsequently, the bead portion f is gouged by two tire levers (not shown) and is thus released from the edge of the rim e to remove the tire from the wheel.
However, when the tire is removed from the wheel by means of the lever or by way of the bead drop, gouging of the bead portion f of the tire a by inserting the lever d between the bead portion f and the rim e of the wheel, often damages the tire, particularly the bead portion f, thus degrading the value of the tire as an article of commerce. Further, and even worse, the tire is frequently damaged critically so that it cannot again be used as a tire. In addition, due to complete manual operation, removal of the tire from the wheel has been labor and time intensive and inefficient in application of labor, thus resulting in significant increase of the production cost.